Friday, September 18, 2009

Michael Waltrip's Missing Dog Found After 2 Months

Darla, a Belgian Malinois belonging to Michael Waltrip was let out of her house on July 11, 2009 and didn't return. After countless hours of searching and utilizing the services of FindToto.com and deploying a search dog from Missing Pet Recovery Services, Inc. but it was all for not because the dog had been stolen.

Two months later, on Tuesday (09/15/2009), we received a text message about Darla, asking if I was still looking for Darla and how much was her reward was really worth. I replied to the text message stating we were still looking for Darla and told him the price of the reward. Immediately, he responded to my reply, saying he could take me to the dog, stating that his uncle had stolen the dog in Morresville. He said they saw Darla running from Michael’s property and removed her collar and then drove to Charlotte with her.

Not knowing what to expect, we prepared for the worst so John, Brett and I headed to Charlotte to meet with the informant. He was reluctant at first but we took him in the car with us amd showed us where his uncle lived. It turns out the man was broke and really needed the money.

After banging on the door and then kicking at loudly, we still got no response. I could see Darla in the backyard. As I proceeded to the gate where Darla was being held, a man with a taco appeared behind me and asked what I was doing in his backyard. I quickly informed him that he had stolen my friend’s dog and I was here to get it back.

Michael was in Italy at the time, hopefully testing a new Ferrari for me! We did managed to get the dog back without incident. Darla and Marcy were happily reunited just 30 minutes later.

We want to thank all the well wishers and volunteers and let them know this story had a happy ending.